This is already a reality. A few days ago, Netflix confirmed rumors of a cheap ad-supported plan.. A rather limited option that seems to start with two goals: first, get people who share accounts to make a move to separate from their “fake stream families”; and, secondly, they look like cheap ones, which are still the cheapest model.
Called Basic with Ads, the cheap Netflix Ads plan will cost €5.49 per month in Spain. In the case of Mexico, it will cost 99 pesos per month.
With it, Netflix is abandoning what was one of its founding mantras: don’t show ads. However, the emergence of more and more competitors, together with the doubts raised by their latest results, have made him seem to change his own features.
Is streaming coming to bring something new or to supplant DTT and cable channels?
It is often said about market innovation that when something really new comes up, it usually either opens up a new path or replaces the previous one. The telephone has not supplanted writing, email has not replaced the telephone, but its use and meaning have changed. The telephone, however, was a serious blow to the telegraph in the long run.
When streaming platforms started going mainstream in 2015 and peaked in 2020 due to lockdown, they seemed to offer a different model than linear TV. No ads, live premieres of all episodes of the season, so you can watch in a row without waiting, and multi-screen. OTTs were something else.
However, first the emergence of Disney Plus, which appeared on the eve of the conclusion with another premiere, and now the appearance of advertising, seems to cast doubt on whether the platforms offer something new or are becoming more like regular channels.
Before Netflix, Disney Plus, Paramount Plus and the first Peacock in the US were already playing with ad-supported subscription options. Rumor has it that HBO Max will do the same soon. In the case of Netflix, its advertising formulas are of little novelty compared to conventional television.
The advertisement will have a maximum duration of 20 seconds. And they can be seen before, during and after playback. At the same time, a cheap ad-free Netflix program dares to do something very reasonable: stop playback for a few seconds. Say goodbye to one of the main streaming arguments.
Episodes without a simultaneous premiere, sports, reality shows…
This isn’t the only dogma Netflix apologizes for. Although he hasn’t done it all the way, he’s not as hard on his premier policy that all episodes follow, something he’s already begun to do in part with his “parts” into which he’s split, like money robbery or weird things.
“There is no reason to release it weekly”co-CEO Ted Sarandos said in 2016: “The move away from planned TV is huge. So why are you going to bring people back to what they quit in large quantities?”
the date high on Disney Plus now and save with an annual subscriptionwith which you can enjoy its entire catalog of series and films, access to the latest releasesto catalog Star and the best National Geographic documentaries.
However, in recent years, Netflix has experimented with weekly releases of some reality shows instead of mass releases.
The next frontier can certainly come through sports. Netflix has long refused to participate in sports betting, a staple of traditional media companies. Last year, however, Hastings said Netflix would consider bidding for the rights to live in Formula One to match the success of its documentary series. Drive to survivewhich profiles every racing season.
“A few years ago the rights to Formula 1 were sold,” Hastings told the German magazine. Der Spiegel in September. “At that time we were not among the bidders, today we would think about it.”
The addition of live sports could give Netflix a new audience, but that belies Netflix’s recent reluctance to spend a lot of money on licensed programming.
Advertising, wait a week for the next series, popular science programs. The look and feel of streaming has changed as it has grown, with his main reference has partially turned into a giant who fights others who have more legs to stand on.
Disney has its theme parks, its movie theater franchise business, its toys, and countless brand licensing deals; Apple has its own hardware and software business; and Amazon is not only a leading e-commerce store but also a cloud service provider for some of the biggest companies on the planet, including Netflix.
All this means that his predecessor bowed to options he had previously assured he would never touch.. We will see if over time streaming will become a new television, but paid, or, conversely, they will coexist, providing the viewer with really different aspects and experiences.
